''Mesocetus'' is an extinct genus of

baleen whale Baleen whales ( systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea ( whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in th ...

from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

( Antwerp,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

and

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

Description

''Mesocetus'' is similar to other tranatocetids in having rostral bones that override the frontals and contact the parietals, nasals dividing the maxillae on the vertex, a dorsoventrally bent occipital shield with a more horizontal anterior portion and more vertical posterior portion, and a tympanic bulla with short, narrow anterior portion with rounded or squared anterior end and wider and higher posterior portion that is particularly swollen in the posteroventral area. Shared characters with ''Tranatocetus'' include posterior ends of premaxillae fused with the maxillae and divided on the vertex by long, narrow and high (vertical plate-like) nasals and cervical vertebrae with wide transverse foramina, almost as wide as the centra.

Species

* ''Mesocetus agrami'' Van Beneden, 1886; known from late

(late

Serravallian The Serravallian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or a stage in the middle Miocene Epoch/ Series, which spans the time between 13.82 Ma and 11.63 Ma (million years ago). The Serravallian follows the Langhian and is followed by the Tort ...

) of the Balkans. * ''Mesocetus aquitanicus'' Flot, 1896 * ''Mesocetus hungaricus'' Kadic, 1907 * ''Mesocetus longirostris'' van Beneden, 1880 (

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

); * ''Mesocetus pinguis'' van Beneden, 1880;P. J. Van Beneden. 1880. Les mysticetes a courts fanons des sables des environs d'anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 1880:11-27 ''nomen dubium'' * ''Mesocetus siphunculus'' Cope, 1895

Formerly assigned to ''Mesocetus''

* ''Mesocetus latifrons'' von Beneden, 1880; now referred to '' Aglaocetus'' as ''A. latifrons'' * ''Mesocetus schweinfurthi'' Fraas 1904a; now referred to ''

Eocetus ''Eocetus'' is an extinct protocetid early whale known from the early late Eocene (Bartonian, ) Giushi Formation in Gebel Mokattam, (, paleocoordinates ) outside Cairo, Egypt. The specimen was first named by Fraas as ''Mesocetus schweinfurth ...

'' as ''E. schweinfurthi'' * ''Mesocetus argillarius'' Roth, 1978 = '' Tranatocetus argillarius''Gol’din P, Steeman ME (2015) From Problem Taxa to Problem Solver: A New Miocene Family, Tranatocetidae, Brings Perspective on Baleen Whale Evolution. PLoS ONE 10(9): e0135500. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135500

References

Prehistoric cetacean genera Miocene mammals of Europe Miocene cetaceans {{paleo-whale-stub